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[Backwards Compatibility] I Want to Play My Game Dammit!

So back in the days of the first Xbox, I had myself a game called Bloodwake:

I really loved the game, and when the time came to sell my Xbox to get some spare money and space for a 360, I kept this game, in hopes that I will one day be able to play it again. Much to my disappointment this day never came and never will come because Microsoft stopped working on making old Xbox games compatible with the 360. And so I am sad, but I refuse to let go of the game. I retain some hope that by some miracle I will be able to play it once again.

So fellow forumers, what games did you hope would become compatible with new consoles but instead your hopes and dreams were smashed to bits?

Like half my collection for the original Xbox. They really disappointed me with their backwards compatibility. The disc drive failed on my original XBox and since the original Xbox was discontinued by then I was rather SoL. I ended up trading in a large amount of them for there PS2 equivalents, but there are still some I can't play.
I probably miss the Otogi games the most.

Not to drag this thread into the PC gaming area, but backwards compatibility is one big reason I prefer my PC games and only rarely buy games for my PS3.

I just don't think backwards compatibility is ever going to be a big priority for console developers because as much money as there is in making old games possible to play, there's a lot more in making new games.

Some have made pretty good steps in this direction, Nintendo with their VC and Microsoft with Live for things like the remake of Conker or remake of Perfect Dark, but I think for consoles your only real possibility to play old games is to keep your old consoles around.

I recently rebought a mint-condition N64 from a collector who had decided to abandon his collection and its definitely worth the purchase if you liked N64s back then.

I joke about this from time to time, but if you look at the BC list on Wikipedia for the 360 I can almost guarantee you that whatever good game you're thinking of does not run perfectly without some kind of a hitch to it. Panzer Dragoon? Not if you live in Europe. Jet Set Radio Future? It's got slowdown in certain sections and the map is bugged. Silent Hill 2? Hahahaha. MvC2? I don't even know why they bothered saying it was BC, but now that it's on XBLA it's not an issue.

Just to list some games that do run mostly fine, barring some resolution shenanigans: Aquaman, Circus Maximus, Robin Hood, and so many other great games! Basically what I'm saying is that I wish JSRF didn't have the slowdown, because the map sucks anyway and I never bothered with custom sprays. If the slowdown was gone it would be perfect for me.

Not to drag this thread into the PC gaming area, but backwards compatibility is one big reason I prefer my PC games and only rarely buy games for my PS3.

If only it were that easy! Getting old Windows games to run on modern Windows editions can be an absolute hair pulling nightmare. Combine it with the massive variation in potential hardware making your problem fairly unique to you alone. I've given up in frustration many times.

I joke about this from time to time, but if you look at the BC list on Wikipedia for the 360 I can almost guarantee you that whatever good game you're thinking of does not run perfectly without some kind of a hitch to it. Panzer Dragoon? Not if you live in Europe. Jet Set Radio Future? It's got slowdown in certain sections and the map is bugged. Silent Hill 2? Hahahaha. MvC2? I don't even know why they bothered saying it was BC, but now that it's on XBLA it's not an issue.

Just to list some games that do run mostly fine, barring some resolution shenanigans: Aquaman, Circus Maximus, Robin Hood, and so many other great games! Basically what I'm saying is that I wish JSRF didn't have the slowdown, because the map sucks anyway and I never bothered with custom sprays. If the slowdown was gone it would be perfect for me.

My heart sinks whenever I think about the fact that games like Timesplitters and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory aren't on the BC list.

The AKI games are still the greatest wrestling games ever made. It boggles my mind that no one has been able to match the quality of games from a system two generations past.

I certainly agree on that. AKI-man is also a force of destruction that pummels everything into submission.

and backwards compat.... my original xbox died 6 months prior to the 360 coming out and surprisingly 3 other friends of mine had their original xbox die in the same exact week. I'm on my 4 360 system now too. However I still have many older consoles...cough cough Nintendo that still work how many ridiculous years later.

my point is now that we are in an era of systems not lasting a lifetime or even the current gens life cycle for that matter it seems only fair they implement backwards compat for all games. I don't want to start a discussion about hardware and understand why the past generation or two of complex consoles are more prone to failure and shorter life spans. I just think it would be nice considering that they give us an option to continue playing games a bit longer.

Not to drag this thread into the PC gaming area, but backwards compatibility is one big reason I prefer my PC games and only rarely buy games for my PS3.

If only it were that easy! Getting old Windows games to run on modern Windows editions can be an absolute hair pulling nightmare. Combine it with the massive variation in potential hardware making your problem fairly unique to you alone. I've given up in frustration many times.

Well most XP games work well enough in Vista/7. If you need to run a game that needs Win98, just install Win98 on some garbage drive that you have laying around.

If Win98 won't run on your new hardware (which is most likely), you could probably run Win98 in a Virtual PC.

So while it may be hard to get some old games working, its 100% possible to do. Whereas on your PS3s and Xboxes you're SOL.

Not to drag this thread into the PC gaming area, but backwards compatibility is one big reason I prefer my PC games and only rarely buy games for my PS3.

If only it were that easy! Getting old Windows games to run on modern Windows editions can be an absolute hair pulling nightmare. Combine it with the massive variation in potential hardware making your problem fairly unique to you alone. I've given up in frustration many times.

Yeah...my old DOS games don't run exactly as I remember them. Maybe it was my shitty PC back then but Sim City, PoP2 and Zeliard are way too fast for my tastes on my current gig.

I feel like Backwards Compatibility is really only a bullet point feature in the early part of a systems life cycle when the old systems are still kicking out potentially good games. For as many people who replay games all the time and hold on to game they love to play over and over there are 2-3 people who only play the newest games and get rid of them for what ever the new hotness is and really don't care about the old systems games.

I find I replay a VERY low number of games and often will set games aside when I get something new and never end up going back often as well, if it keeps systems cheaper I am ok with ditching BC.

I recently rebought a mint-condition N64 from a collector who had decided to abandon his collection and its definitely worth the purchase if you liked N64s back then.

Having pulled out the 64 fairly recently, I can second that the AKI wrestling games are still just as awesome as they were back then with four players.

None of the other guys had played it before and it was a lot of fun.

The AKI games are still the greatest wrestling games ever made.

Man, that's just not true in the slightest. However importing did used to be pretty expensive so I can understand people not having played the true greatest wrestling games ever made.

I really would like the 360 to have better backwards compat, however I still have my original xbox so it's not the end of the world. The PS3 I have not being backwards compatible is a real disappointment for me though since my PS2 doesn't work anymore which leaves me with a lot of pretty great games just sitting there getting no use.

I know a ton of people don't care about BC. I am not one of those people, which is why I'm not even considering buying a PS3 right now. I may be be in the market for a PS2, though. I've been without one for years, and I'd really like to play the Persona games.

I'm not that hung up on backwards compatibility, but in the case of some games (like exclusives) I really have no other choice other than buying the old console. Which is kind of silly. Can't the port it to PC or something? I'd take that! Or put it on XBL like they did with oh so many games.
I mean ideally I'd like it to be BC, since it would cost me a fraction of the price to play it, as compared to buying a game off XBL, but really at this point, I'll take anything.

Not to drag this thread into the PC gaming area, but backwards compatibility is one big reason I prefer my PC games and only rarely buy games for my PS3.

If only it were that easy! Getting old Windows games to run on modern Windows editions can be an absolute hair pulling nightmare. Combine it with the massive variation in potential hardware making your problem fairly unique to you alone. I've given up in frustration many times.

At least, for the most part, if you are willing to put in the hard yards, most are possible to get working.

No amount of fiddling will get console games backwards compatible.

Also, It really depends on what you define as backwards compatible.

the last ten years or so of PC games will, pretty universally, run on any modern PC. 2000-2010. A few games before that, too, such as Starcraft will do fine.

Before that, it can be tricky. If you go really old, however, you've got DOSBox which can run almost anything (One Must Fall 2097 YES)

I mean, even if you only accept 2000-2010 as working backwards-compatibility for PC gaming, thats still a HUGE amount of gaming possible. The original Xbox wasn't even announced in 2000, was it?

Panzer Dragoon freezes on PAL systems and the original Panzer Dragoon can't be played at all, FF1 works but FF2 doesn't have the bumpers count as the black and white buttons so you can't zoom the camera in or out which makes combat a pain, and Phantom Dust apparently does work but can lag up sometimes.

Basically if you're thinking of buying a game for the original Xbox and it says it's BC on xbox.com, you should immediately head to Wikipedia and see how compatible it really is. The website also says Silent Hill 2 is compatible. It's compatible in the sense that the sound is bugged, the flashlight goes crazy, and there's a 90% chance that if you make a second save file the game will refuse to boot and you have to do this huge pain in the ass process to fix it.

Panzer Dragoon freezes on PAL systems and the original Panzer Dragoon can't be played at all, FF1 works but FF2 doesn't have the bumpers count as the black and white buttons so you can't zoom the camera in or out which makes combat a pain, and Phantom Dust apparently does work but can lag up sometimes.

Basically if you're thinking of buying a game for the original Xbox and it says it's BC on xbox.com, you should immediately head to Wikipedia and see how compatible it really is. The website also says Silent Hill 2 is compatible. It's compatible in the sense that the sound is bugged, the flashlight goes crazy, and there's a 90% chance that if you make a second save file the game will refuse to boot and you have to do this huge pain in the ass process to fix it.

I do not remember ever having a problem with Orta or Phantom Dust, but maybe I'm not remembering well. The consistency of BC titles actually working is a joke though. Their definition of 'compatible' and my definition are clearly not the same . . .

Panzer Dragoon freezes on PAL systems and the original Panzer Dragoon can't be played at all, FF1 works but FF2 doesn't have the bumpers count as the black and white buttons so you can't zoom the camera in or out which makes combat a pain, and Phantom Dust apparently does work but can lag up sometimes.

Basically if you're thinking of buying a game for the original Xbox and it says it's BC on xbox.com, you should immediately head to Wikipedia and see how compatible it really is. The website also says Silent Hill 2 is compatible. It's compatible in the sense that the sound is bugged, the flashlight goes crazy, and there's a 90% chance that if you make a second save file the game will refuse to boot and you have to do this huge pain in the ass process to fix it.

Red Dead Revolver's BC, too. In the sense that one of the early boss fights is bugged so that if they use their melee attack at all, it will hard freeze the game. If you manage to get past this boss without them using said attack, a later level just plain refuses to load up, so no matter what, only half the game is playable.

Bought the special edition of Mark Ecko's Getting Up in New Jersey for $20 about 3 years ago, but thanks to it not being backwards compatible on the 360 I still haven't played it.

It's a shame, because back when it first came out I was really excited to get my hands on it but couldn't since I was too young to get it on my own and my brother was a dick and didn't want to buy it for me.

Bought the special edition of Mark Ecko's Getting Up in New Jersey for $20 about 3 years ago, but thanks to it not being backwards compatible on the 360 I still haven't played it.

It's a shame, because back when it first came out I was really excited to get my hands on it but couldn't since I was too young to get it on my own and my brother was a dick and didn't want to buy it for me.

You're not missing much. It had a lot of potential, but it all just felt really clunky which isn't what I want out of a game that should have been urban Prince of Persia with spray paint.

Bought the special edition of Mark Ecko's Getting Up in New Jersey for $20 about 3 years ago, but thanks to it not being backwards compatible on the 360 I still haven't played it.

Honestly that's an act of mercy, not of hatred on your 360's part

Just play JGRF if you want to get your graffiti on, and you're not playing a game produced by an entitled egotistical prick who said with a straight face that his game was a landmark for art in video games